Newly Compiled Straightforward Guide to the General Source of Computational Methods

Original title: 新編直指算法統宗 (Xīnbiān zhízhǐ suànfǎ tǒngzōng). Published in 1592 by the mathematician Cheng Dawei, this work became the most influential handbook on the abacus and practical arithmetic in East Asia for centuries.

A dark blue book cover with a white vertical title strip on the left side. On the far right, the white threads of a traditional Chinese four-hole stitched binding are visible.

The title identifies the work as a Straightforward Guide zhízhǐ (直指), literally "direct pointing," indicating a manual designed to provide clear, immediate instruction without unnecessary complexity and a General Source tǒngzōng (統宗), meaning a "unified ancestry" or "systematic summary," suggesting that this book compiles and organizes all known mathematical traditions into a single authoritative collection of Computational Methods suànfǎ (算法), the rules and techniques for calculation, specifically focusing on the use of the abacus (suanpan).